During the Festive Season family and friends get together to have fun, prepare festive meals and to pour a glass or two of our favourite wine. But, as diets and trends change, stalwart traditional festive recipes do not work for everyone anymore and it might be quite the challenge to feed your tribe!

Do you have a big, extended family or is your festive celebrations small and intimate? Are your guests foodies? Perhaps there’s a vegan in the family, making the showstopper roast more drama than delight… Worried about skyrocketing food costs with hungry teenagers or many dietary requirements?

Whether your guests are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-intolerant or carb-conscious, kids or adults, sophisticated palates or a hungry crowd, wine connoisseurs or those who just eagerly cheers with what's in their glasses... The joy of the festive season is about more than the food and drink - it is about those you love. Let's help make this a fun and stress-free time - for the host and the picky eaters!

Together with some foodie collaborators, we came up with delicious solutions to festive menu challenges and the result is crowd-pleasing summer-time recipes that are beautiful with Leopard's Leap wines.

Regardless of the tribe you have to feed, this year, invite them in to gather and graze!

Make your vegetable-loving friends smile:

• This Puttanesca salad is much more than a sideshow to a roast or braai. Enjoy with Leopard's Leap's award-winning Sauvignon Blanc and you have a substantial meal that will stand its ground without any meat.
  
  
• Summer begs for salads. This delightful Apple and Dill Summer Salad recipe by Masego and Andile is easy, but interesting and super refreshing on a hot day.
  
  
• And if you need a vegetarian version for the braai, look no further than The Food Fox's Grilled green skewers with halloumi and chermoula or Miso-basted aubergine burgers with quick pickled cucumber and turmeric dill mayo.

• If meat is what makes your crowd ticks, you can't go wrong with a decent cut. Beef Tagliata sounds a little exotic, but it is just beautiful slices of steak served with rocket leaves and Parmesan. It brings you that perfect combination of familiar and sophisticated. Enjoy with a wine like our Culinaria Pinot Noir that ticks those same boxes and it will be the highlight on your festive table! It's easy to scale for bigger and smaller groups. The thicker part of the beef caters to those who prefer a rarer cook and guests with a fear of greenery can even brush aside the herbs.
  
  
• Braai, braai, braai - It's hard to imagine summer holidays in South Africa without plenty of braaing! If you're people are braai people and you would like to add something different to the menu, try our Harissa lamb chops, Peri-peri chicken or Sweet and sour pork neck steaks. 

Feed the masses:

• It's easy to feed the extended family with a Beef potjie with dombolo! This South African favourite by Masego and Andile is served with traditional dombolo and - to make it even more of a crowd pleaser - generous glasses of Leopard’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. 
  
  
• There's nothing as nice as a cheesy slice! Pizza is the ideal solution to feeding hungry kids and teenagers when Mr. Delivery is just too far. But even adults, who might have had just one too many a braaibroodjie, would opt for this uncomplicated meal. Get everyone involved and make it from scratch using our recipe for the base and tomato sauce. Try some of our topping inspirations and remember, the grownups will need our summer-friendly, unwooded Leopard's Leap Chardonnay on the side...
  
  

Impress the foodies:

• Who doesn't love a cob of corn, slightly chargrilled from the fire or slippery under melting butter? But for foodie friends, this might just be a little too casual. Try our Sweetcorn gazpacho - it is a sunny yellow colour, have all the familiar flavour we love and is served at the perfect temperature for hot summer days!
  
  
• Another impressive cold soup starter that is as pretty as a picture, is this delightful Apple vichyssoise with smoked trout and feta by Vickie de Beer. 
  
  

Bling it up for the glam squad:

• They might love the flavour of Christmas pudding and ice cream, but these fashionable friends are all about the look! Not to fear! Try Chef Christiaan's Christmas cake ice cream wreath! Pretty and delicious - especially with dainty glasses of our Culinaria Muscat. 
  
  
• Snack plates filled with charcuterie and cheese are always a hit, but it can be quite tricky to make them look fabulous. Serve the same ingredients, but, put them in a cocktail glass! Dine with Tasha showed us how to make Cocktail charcuterie as an elegant way to start the party. 
  
  
• Another bright idea for a glam-friendly dessert, is to make salted caramel filled choux buns and then stack them into a fabulous Christmas tree! Crocquembouche means "crunch in the mouth" and although traditionally served as a wedding cake, you can't look like a Christmas Tree and then expect not to be served as a Christmas treat! Try our recipe for Crocquembouche with salted caramel.
  
  

Authentically South African:

• Are you entertaining friends and family from overseas? We bet they're craving braaibroodjies, roosterkoek and perhaps even bobotie! Bring them to Leopard's Leap for our TASTE SA! experience or entertain at home with a SA-inspired ploughman platter or Bobotie-filled cocktail vetkoekies. Perhaps they might even enjoy a cocktail with a local flavour! How about or Cape Sour Wine Cocktail?
  
  

The tribe that lingers:

• Guests who linger might wish for another meal! There’s a compliment in there…  Nothing works as well as sausage over the coals! Put the hot in hotdog when you dress up your regular boerewors roll or hotdog with a beautiful bun or sensational sauce - get Gourmet hotdog recipes here.
  
  
• And when they stay until breakfast... Nothing is more satisfying than a toasty with all the trimmings - especially when you give it a fancy name. Try our Croque madame or Croque monsieur and perhaps even add another glass of Sparkling!